From the Corner of the Room
by LightwoodLady25
Summary: In modern day London, a restless Jem Carstairs stays up to remember his parents' wedding anniversary. As his thoughts take over, two figures appear in the corner of his bedroom. A Carstairs family one-shot. Originally Chapter 2 of "Bittersweet Visions".


**A/N: Dear readers, thank you for sticking with me, even though I am a sporadic updater. I will try to update a little more regularly. Many thanks to Effie for jump starting the inspiration to write! :D**

**As requested by reviewers, here's my take on Wen Yu and Jonah Carstairs visiting Jem. I originally posted this as Chapter 2 of "Bittersweet Visions", but it didn't seem like a smooth continuation, so it's now a separate fic. **

**Details: Post CP2. Slight spoilers for CP2's epilogue. Sequel of "Bittersweet Visions". Major angst. Translations at the bottom. **

**Summary: Late at night, Jem thinks about his parents when they decide to visit him. How many years has it been?**

**Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns TID. **

Tessa lay in bed, her eyes closed in peaceful sleep, but Jem could not rest besides his wife. He had been awake for a while now, staring at the digital alarm clock on his nightstand by the bed, a worn looking wooden comb balanced in between his slim fingers. Jem watched the time change to 12:00 AM. Today was September 13. It was his parents' wedding anniversary.

Turning the comb over and over in his hands, Jem began to lose himself in thought. His father had given the comb to his mother on their first wedding anniversary. Among the few possessions of his parents he still owned, Jem had a picture of that day. His father gently slipping the comb into his mother's silky black hair as she flushed from the tenderness and attention she was receiving. In life, they were so happy with each other; watching their relationship, Jem grew up wanting that kind of relationship with someone one day. When he was alone at the London Institute, he sometimes imagined finding love of his own. He would meet another Shadowhunter girl and flirt with her secretly behind the adults' backs. The two of them would train together at first, then sneak off to spend some actual time together alone. He would admire her strength, her wit, her beauty, just her. And once they were old enough and truly in love, he would tell his parents of their budding relationship. But that was a fantasy, just a daydream that could never be. His parents were gone. Jem sighed, shaking his head. However positive he tried to stay, it was rough at times.

Just as he opened the drawer to put the comb away, a glimmer in a dark corner of the bedroom caught his eye. The glimmer blossomed into a wispy cloud of white and there were two shapes emerging from the cloud. Jem's eyes widened in shock that he almost let the comb slip to the floor. The cloud dissolved and Jem stood face to face with his parents. They didn't look a day older then they were when he was twelve, all those years ago.

"Mama? Father?"

Wen Yu and Jonah nodded at the same time.

"I'm so grateful you still remember us. It's been so long, Jian, so long. I'm sorry," Wen Yu said. Jem's eyes stung hearing his mother's soft voice; he had forgotten how much he missed it.

"Of course I remember you, Mama. How could I forget what you've done for me?" Jem replied. He smiled, but Wen Yu's eyes began to fill with tears.

"I only wish...we could have been beside you in life, Jian. You needed us and we couldn't help you. We couldn't even come and see you when you wanted it!" Wen Yu burst into tears, and Jonah pulled her close from behind. Jem felt his heart wrench at the sight; he had never seen his mother break down like this before. He stepped forward to embrace her, feeling his mother's shoulders shaking as he put his chin on the top of her head.

"All these years. All these years we waited! What kind of mother does that to her child?" Wen Yu cried.

Through her sobs, Jem remembered a moonlit rooftop balcony in London. The chilly breeze. Will's white knuckles. A young girl's ghost. His one request. And he waited. Ella had broken the news to him one night, that his parents couldn't see him as he wanted. He was crushed, angrily demanding to know why not, but she refused to explain. He never saw Ella again, despite his many secret visits to Will's balcony afterwards. Since then, he was perplexed at being denied seeing his parents; there were so many possibilities. Maybe he was close enough to dying that all he could do was wait to join them in the afterlife. They had been killed by a Greater Demon, which might have prevented his parents' from seeing him, as if the afterlife had rules about who the dead could visit. One prospect haunted his mind during his delirious episodes while he still lived in London. There was the chance that they didn't want to see him, if they were so ashamed of a sickly, drug-addict of a son. And not just a son, a Shadowhunter child. A Shadowhunter child who should have been above depending on Downworlder substances to survive. Since reuniting with Tessa and now free to feel again, he might have spiraled into depression, had he not kept hold of one fact. He loved his parents and trusted them completely after all these years. They must have had good reasons for not wanting to see him.

"Mama, don't cry. You're here now, right?" Jem said. He looked up to see his father's worried face.

"Yes, but now, I'm afraid that - " Jonah began.

The floor began to wobble beneath Jem's feet as his vision began to blur and his face suddenly turned white. His mother untangled herself from his arms, a look of fright on her face. Jonah's expression from behind his wife was just as terrified.

"My dear, we shouldn't have stayed this long. Holding a ghost for too long is dangerous!" Jonah said. Jem smiled at his parents, even as his sight of them was beginning to swim. They looked more like reflections rippling on a disturbed lake's surface - visible but slightly distorted. A lump was growing in his throat.

"No. This will pass soon enough. I'm just -" Jem said, as he pulled himself into a sitting position beside the wall. He felt so cold now that he was shivering. Tessa. He wanted to be in Tessa's warm arms now. The bed looked so far away now, so far from his angel still asleep. His parents looked at him sadly, the white cloud blooming around them. Although he refused to believe what was happening, regardless, Jem's eyes widened.

"Qin ai de*, I swear by our love for you, we will come to see you soon," Wen Yu said breathlessly. She kissed her fingers and blew the kiss to him, and Jem realized his face was wet with tears.

"We won't let you down, never again," Jonah said firmly, although his voice was quiet with a slight echo.

The cloud swirled around them, which broke Jem's composure. His mind flashed the memory of seeing them lifeless on the floor, with him left alone to watch their funeral pyres to burn the last of his childhood. With the last of his strength, he sounded strained and out of breath as he cried out.

"Wait, Mama! Father! Wo bu yao ni zuo!**"

The last thing he remembered before he fell asleep was his bewildered yet understanding Tessa in her white night robe kneeling in front of him, her arms around him like a lifeline as she pressed kiss after kiss into his face and hair. She was whispering the same thing repeatedly until she knew that he understood her. Her words were enough to keep any images of his past away for now.

"I'm here. Everything is going to be alright."

**Translations:  
*****My love**  
****I don't want you to go.**

**A/N: Any ideas to why Jem's mama and papa wouldn't want to see him before? **


End file.
